Perfectly Normal
by Imitosis11
Summary: Harry can't quite figure out why his chemistry professor hates him so much. A Severus eventually adopts Harry story with a twist - no magic!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Harry swiped one hand across his forehead and leaned back on his heels. It was sweltering out, as would be expected at high noon on a late summer day, and most of the neighborhood sought the shelter of air conditioned living rooms or shaded porches. Harry's dry mouth watered as he watched one particularly bold neighbor lounging on a lawn chair, gulping on a pitcher of ice cold lemonade.

It was a crazy time to be doing yard work, of course, but Harry rather preferred the labor over the death sentence that would come with telling his Uncle he was loony.

He fiddled with the bottom of his shirt, toying with the idea of ripping it off his slim build, but he was almost certain the sunbathing neighbor was eying him through her overly large sunglasses, and he couldn't expose the fading marks he knew littered his backside. Dropping the edge of his shirt, Harry stood from the ground. He retrieved the mower from the small garden shed and set to work on the front lawn.

The sun was relentless; Harry knew his face and arms would be a painful pink later and he wished he had listened when Hermione tutted at him for never wearing sun protection. He had been eying the hose for quite some time and was about to sneak a gulp when a spluttering engine pulled him from his thoughts.

Dudley, Harry's whale-like cousin lumbered over from the car.

"Oy, freak!"

Harry sighed and cut the engine. "Hello, Dudders."

"Don't call me that," the large boy growled, taking a step toward him.

"Alright. Sorry, Dud," Harry said, pleased when his cousin's face turned a frightening shade of purple.

"Dad!"

"What was that, boy?" Uncle Vernon materialized from the other side of the car and made a move to grab Harry by the collar of his shirt. He stopped himself, as the neighbor across the street had tilted her shades down on her nose and was now openly watching the family. Vernon awkwardly patted him on the head. "Inside we go."

Harry groaned but followed the two larger men through the front door. He stopped just inside to toe his shoes off, as the Dursley's did not appreciate when he left muddied prints throughout the house. Stooping to place them just inside his unfortunately cramped bedroom, he was startled when he was face to face with his uncle as he stood.

"What have I told you about making fun of my son?" Vernon asked, Harry struggling not to recoil from his wretched breath.

"I wasn't making fun of him, I just gave him a nickname. Right, Dudders?"

Dudley emitted a feral sounding growl and Harry would have laughed if not for the proximity of his sturdy uncle. The large man grabbed a fistful of Harry's shirt and held him against the wall.

"I will _not _tolerate you disrespecting anyone in this house! Do you hear me?" Vernon yelled.

"It'd be rather hard not to." Probably not the smartest response, but Harry thought the purpling of his uncles face was almost worth it. He changed his mind a second later as a fist sunk into his abdomen and he doubled over.

"Think you're so clever, don't you boy."

Although part of Harry wanted to respond with a biting comment, the rational part of his mind made sure his lips stayed tightly shut.

"I think it's about time Dudley learned how to punish you when you make a mistake and I'm not around. No dinner tonight, and we'll have a lesson first thing tomorrow morning. We'll see how _clever_ you are then."

Harry gulped, knowing he had pushed his luck with two snarky comments. He noticed Dudley's smug grin out of the corner of his eye and he filled with dread at the thought of the coming morning. It was too late in the summer for one of Vernon's lessons. The last thing he wanted was to show up on the first day of school with obvious injuries; it was already hard enough to keep the questions at bay.

He was a little excited at the thought of starting school again. It got him out of the house for the majority of the day, and Dudley went off to a preppy private day school so he was finally able to make friends that weren't afraid of the repercussions. Ron and Hermione were great, and they didn't much care about his ratty clothes or the fact that he never invited them over.

He wished the teachers showed him a little more respect, but Harry supposed he couldn't blame them as he still sabotaged his grades. Vernon had a fit every time his report card came home with higher marks than Dudley. With a sigh, and a hand over his aching stomach, Harry followed Vernon's quivering finger into his cupboard. The door slammed and a lock clicked into place immediately.

Settling down on his ratty cot, Harry closed his eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

oOo

Severus Snape sat at a lighted desk working on a syllabus for the upcoming school year. He hoped the new class would not be as hair brained as the one before them. He liked to challenge his students, but the majority of them found his work impossibly hard so he had been forced to dumb down his curriculum at Albus Dumbledore's insistence. He wished he could say no to the old bat.

He let his eyes skim across the students on the roster. His homeroom class was always his least favorite, as it was the one he had to spend the most time with. Hermione Granger_._ The other professors had only good things to say about this bright young pupil, and Snape was curious to see if she lived up to her reputation as the class know it all.

His lips curved up the slightest increment as his eyes landed on Draco Malfoy. The boy's father was a good friend, and Snape had been pleased to observe that Draco was equally clever and smart, if not a little too arrogant for his own good. But could Severus really fault anyone for arrogance?

All in all he was pleased with his list, until one particularly disgusting name caught his eye. _Potter._ He had known the boy was coming this year, of course, but had pushed it out of his mind as just the thought of the name caused rage to swim through his veins. Immediately flashing back to the boy's bespectacled father, Snape clenched his fists. If the boy was anything like his namesake, and Snape was already sure he was, this was going to be the year from hell. Snape vowed to himself that he would put the younger Potter in his place.

The boy was in for a rude awakening on the first day of school.

oOo

_A/N: Very short first chapter, next will be longer._

_These past few months have been insanely crazy but I should have my other stories updated in the next few days!_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry for the wait! To be totally honest I had forgotten about this story.  
Warning-the Dursley's are quite mean in this. Contains abuse.  
**

Harry awoke with a feeling of dread in his stomach that he couldn't place until he remembered his uncle's menacing promise from the day before. He gulped, slipping out of his cupboard (his aunt must have already been by to unlock it that morning), and padding to the kitchen to start breakfast.

A few short minutes later bacon was sizzling, a full plate of eggs were scrambled and the coffee pot was full. Harry paused to listen for the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs before shoving two heaping forkfuls of eggs into his mouth. It was probably a bad idea as his stomach immediately begged for more, but he knew he shouldn't risk it. He hurriedly placed the rest of the eggs on the table, returning to the stove to flip the bacon and fill up two steaming mugs of coffee and a glass of whole milk for Dudley.

He had everything done not a second too soon; Vernon thundered through the door grumbling, his usual cheery self in the mornings. Not even sparing a glance for Harry, he dropped into his chair and unfolded the paper. Petunia followed shortly behind him, bathrobe wrapped tight around her waif-like figure. Normally Dudley didn't leave his bed until long past noon in the summer, but this morning he waddled into the kitchen as alert as ever, eyes gleaming. Harry was about to take his exit, slip into his cupboard and hopefully be forgotten about until lunch, when Dudley spoke.

"So when do I get to teach the little freak his lesson like you promised, Dad?"

Vernon grunted, folding his paper and placing it back on the table. He looked up to Harry seemingly seeing him for the first time that morning. "No time like the present. Boy, go fetch my belt."

Harry suppressed an audible groan. "But sir," he added the title of respect with a grimace, "I haven't done anything wrong."

"You think I've already forgotten about yesterday?" _Yes_, Harry thought. "It's about time I taught Dudley a thing or two about keeping you in line. Now don't make me ask you again."

Harry quickly exited the room, dragging his feet on the way up the steps. He thought about bolting but dismissed the idea as quickly as it came to him. He'd tried in the past. Once he even made it a few days before the police had found him; his family was 'worried sick' and had posted pictures of him all over town, prompting a well meaning officer to escort him back to his 'loving' home. That was a lesson Harry wouldn't soon forget.

Not to mention the time, way back in elementary school, he had let slip to his teacher that he had never slept in a proper bed, only the small cot in his cupboard. The teacher had immediately notified the principal, who had carried out the school policy of requesting a visit from a social worker. Unfortunately, the Dursleys were rather convincing actors, and it didn't help that Vernon's company had done the construction for most of the government agencies around. No one ever questioned little Harry again, and he became a talented actor himself.

Harry knew that how he was treated wasn't normal, per se, but a lifetime of conditioning had him convinced that it wasn't entirely undeserved. If he could just learn to keep his mouth shut and do what was asked of him maybe he wouldn't be in trouble all the time. With a sigh, Harry arrived at Vernon's closet. He peered inside and selected what appeared to be the least intimidating belt. It was a normal thickness (the skinny ones stung like hell) and fairly heavy (maybe Vernon would wear out sooner). He grabbed it and headed back downstairs.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, he found a sight that stopped him in his tracks. His Uncle Vernon and Dudley already _had_ belts; his Uncle had his wrapped around his fist, clenching the buckle and showing Dudley how to do the same with his. Harry hadn't thought of the fact that they both had been wearing them already at breakfast. Which meant the one that he had was for-

"Boy, over here, now."

Harry stumbled back a step before regaining his footing and coming forward. "Uncle Vernon, don't, you know I'm not going to run."

His uncle snorted, eying him with distrust. He waved him over to one of their sturdy breakfast chairs (they had to be sturdy to hold Dudley up, after all), and took both his wrists in one meaty hand. "I won't have you rolling all over the place when I'm trying to teach Dudley to do this properly."

As he was speaking, Vernon grabbed the belt from Harry's grasp and wrapped it twice around his wrists. He looped the remainder of the belt around the armrest of the chair before buckling it, forcing Harry to hunch over. Dudley watched with glee.

Petunia emerged from the corner of the room twisting her hands together nervously. "Vernon, remember the boy has school in a week. We don't want any questions."

"He'll be fine. Little brat deserves it anyway, don't you boy?"

Harry bit his lip. Normally he had some sort of retort but with his hands bound he wasn't so bold. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Now Dudley, come stand back here by me. I'll show you how it's done then give you a chance to try."

"But _Dad_, I wanted to go first," Dudley whined.

Harry stood quivering with his eyes clenched shut. He would be _mortified_ if any of his friends from school could see him now, totally helpless at the hands of his own family. He was such a wimp. Pathetic.

Vernon chuckled at his son's complaint. "Be my guest, Dudley. Go ahead."

* * *

Several hours later Harry lay on his stomach in his cupboard, willing himself to lose consciousness but the excruciating pain was keeping him awake. His stomach rolled, not for the first time, and he reached for the bucket Petunia had been kind enough to bring to him. Each dry heave caused his muscles to spasm and aggravated the welts across his back. He didn't realize he was groaning in pain until a heavy hand banged on his door.

"Shut up in there, we're trying to watch the news!"

Harry clamped his mouth shut. There was no way in hell he was going to give his family a reason to be annoyed with him any time in the near future-he didn't have a death wish, after all.

Ashamed as Harry was to admit it, he had been a mess by the end of his 'punishment.' Dudley was ecstatic to have Harry unable to get away, as he was rarely able to catch his speedy cousin, and Vernon, delighted at having a pupil to share his favorite past time with, had gotten carried away.

It wasn't until Petunia returned, insisting that Harry had had enough, that Vernon grudgingly unbuckled Harry's hands and allowed him to collapse to the ground. Harry lay trembling and crying until Vernon nudged him with his foot and ordered him to his cupboard. He hadn't moved since he'd gotten there, except to retch into the bucket until his stomach was empty.

One week. He only had one week until school started back and he could at least be around people who didn't despise his very existence. The thought brought a smile to his face as his body finally allowed him to slip into unconsciousness.


End file.
